Complaints against Newstalk upheld

THE BROADCASTING Complaints Commission (BCC) has upheld six complaints against the Newstalk radio station for a campaign which involved phoning civil servants live on air.

Brenda Power’s Your Call programme called the offices of Ministers and State bodies such as the Health Service Executive (HSE) to get a response to listeners’ problems.

However, in these six cases, the BCC found civil servants had a reasonable expectation of privacy “and that the actions of the broadcaster amounted to an intrusion which the ordinary person would find objectionable, and some also distressing”.

Two complaints were made by Gerard Bowe, who works in the office of Minister for Health Mary Harney. He was asked, live on air, for information on the Minister’s whereabouts and details of her diary. He said he did not give consent to be interviewed live and regarded the call “as designed to intimidate staff”.

The BCC found both sides of the issues were not given a fair hearing, and Power “clearly sided with the callers”. It found the broadcaster had placed Mr Bowe in an inferior position to the presenter, and could have placed him in a precarious position with his employer.

Another Department of Health employee, Sinéad Dooley, said the on-air interview with her was “entirely inappropriate, unfair and unprofessional”. She was asked for Ms Harney’s mobile number.

Department of Education press officer Keith McMullen said the station had “invaded his privacy and acted very irresponsibly” by calling him live on air without his prior knowledge or consent.

Dublin City Council employee Angela Allen was put live on air to answer a complaint about a tenant’s gates. She said she had “suffered great personal upset” and was “deeply humiliated”. The council’s press officer, Alan Breen, said this was “entirely unacceptable”. He was also put live on air.

The BCC upheld these complaints. Newstalk said it began the “Get it Sorted” slot due to listeners’ difficulties with State agencies.

The broadcaster said the HSE had pulled advertising because of the campaign. It no longer makes these calls live on air.